Sunday, December 27, 2009

I had great fun playing with fabric scraps for my final Christmas gifts. I used my new large format printer to print out my niece's name onto posterboard. (Watch out-> if you print ink jet on the glossy side of poster board, it will never dry! I learned this the hard way.)Once you have your font selected and printed simply cut out the letters from the poster board using an Exacto-blade. Then mount fabric swatches behind each letter. I used artist tape, since it is archival. Mount in a frame and you are done! You are left with a perfect custom made name plate.

You can also give someone a lasting flower arrangement made from Fabric scraps. I gave this bouquet to my grandmother with a coupon good for one day of gardening attached. I used this simple tutorial.

Finally, I made a small cosmetic bag for my step-niece. This requires less than a half of a fat quarter. I improvised my own lining, since the patterndoesn't include one. Due to time constraints I simply ironed interfacing between my exterior and lining fabric and followed the instructions. Then I zig-zag stitched the seams. This worked with my fabric to give it a punk rock type look. If you are working with more delicate looking fabric, I suggest making a separate lining. My husband loved that it looked like I made origami using fabric. This cosmetic bag is fairly small, but is perfect to carry the basics: lipstick, a compact, eyeshadow, and mascara.

About Me

I am an artist and work-from-home-mom who works a typical 9-5 job in addition to taking on my little one and the world. In my free time I love to garden, sew, write, paint, sculpt, renovate, remodel, or anything else I can get my hands dirty doing. I live in New England in a cozy little cottage we have been enjoying fixing up with my husband Bill and our miracle boy Lucas.